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Rhythms 55
references to his other career – that of a lecturer and
trainer in conflict resolution, mental health and social
service.
“I always try to make the best recording possible,” he
says. “But perfection is the root of depression and also
sometimes a lot of aggression, because it sets a standard
that almost invariably won’t be met. It will fail and that
leads to disappointment, dismay, shame and regret.
So I think it’s wrong-headed to go into a project with a
goal that you can’t reach. To try to control everything
that isn’t healthy, because our egos often cloud our
objectivity. So sometimes the best response is to just let
mistakes happen, and I think imperfections and mistakes
should be turned up, not eliminated. If you’re trying
to multi-track or over-dub everything, or fix things up
post-production, then you’re trying to hide the mistakes,
rather than accentuating them.”
When discussing his own role as producer, Brennan
highlights his attempts to remain as invisible to the
process as possible, while pushing the musicians
themselves to the forefront.
“You’ll never hear my voice on the record or see me in
the videos”, he says. “And whatever contributions that I
might make artistically to the music writing processes
are like ghosts, and only if they want me to do that. I’m
just trying to be a conduit for their music, and a set of
ears that are perhaps slightly more objective. I’m trying
to encourage them not to be afraid, because fear is the
obstacle that holds people back and prevents progress.
It’s about making music for music’s sake.”
SETH JORDAN.
like New York, London and L.A .,” he explains to me.
“They’re over-represented, while other places with
populations of millions of people are rarely, if ever, heard
from.”
So is it primarily a case of language, that if the lyrics
aren’t sung in English, or in other international tongues
like Spanish or French, it simply doesn’t get heard?
“That’s the claim put by some”, says Brennan, “but my
argument against that is that most people don’t even
know the words to their own favourite song! It’s in
English, but if they had to sing it they rarely could get
past the first verse and chorus - myself included. A lot of
my favourite songs, I still don’t know what they’re really
about! So language is just one factor, but if people think
that it’s too hard to understand lyrics in other languages,
they should realise that it’s simply a small mental change,
an adjustment of attitude. And we should also remember
that it’s an adjustment that the whole rest of the world
makes everyday to our English.”
When recording in ‘the field’, Brennan always strives for
as natural a sound as possible.
“I’m always trying to find and record music that sounds
different, that’s unique. I really do prefer to record
outdoors, to take the microphones outside. But even if
we’re in a studio, we at least open up some doors, to let in
some daylight and oxygen, which is what’s really lacking
in most studios. Studios are usually completely artificial
environments, and then people wonder why the results
end up sounding artificial too. I like sounds that are
textured and kind of rustic.”
Perhaps Brennan’s biggest musical discovery so far has
been the Malawi Mouse Boys, who have proved to be an
enormously popular act at WOMAD festivals in the UK,
New Zealand and Australia. He found the young men on
a dusty road where they were selling barbequed mice on
sticks to passing motorists, and playing music to pass
the time. Their homemade instruments and raw feel-good
gospel sound were immediately attractive to him.
“We were on this two-lane freeway when we spotted them,
and it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life,
as well as my wife’s – who does all the photos and videos
for these projects. It was a life-changing meeting, both
for them and for us, and it’s been wonderful to see our
relationship develop. The Mouse Boys now have three
albums, and we’ve been able to take them to several
countries, and we hope they’ll be more opportunities for
them. But they’re very difficult to tour, not only because
it’s hard to get the necessary visas, but also because of
the high costs of getting them from the centre of Africa
out on tour, for what is essentially a small club act.”
This year’s the WOMAD UK event has just featured two
of Brennan’s more recent finds - The Hanoi Masters and
Zmei3 (pronounced zmay-tray). For obvious reasons the
Zomba Prison Project musicians are unfortunately not
allowed to tour.
Many of the travel stories that Brennan relates in his
new book “how Music Dies (Or Lives)”, revolve around
the themes of organic music-making and recording, and
the idea of preserving imperfection in the mix, rather
than striving for audio perfection. He also incorporates